Fluid operated strip guide



L. IVERSEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE Oct. ll, 1949.

7 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 22, 1946 INVENTOR Lorenz /f/e/s en oct. 11,1949. L. NERSE.; 2,484,347

FLUID OPERATED xSTRIP GUIDE ATTORNEYS v Oct. ll1, 1949. NERSEN 2,484,347

FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE Filed May 22, 1946 7 sheets-sheet 4 'lNvENTokOre/72 /ve/sen L. IVERSEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE oct. 11, 1949.

Filed May/ 22, 194e 7 Sheets-Sheet 5- mw m @W W1 mm. 0 Y B am .I

ATTORNEY j FLUID OPERA'IED STRIP GUIDE A' Filed lay 22, 1946 'rsheets-sheet 6 INVENTOR 4 ore/72 /I/e/Sen Zik-(97% ATTORNEYS Oct. 11,1949. l.. lvERsEN FLUID OPERATED STRIP GUIDE '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed May22, 1946 ore/72 /versen v Patented Oct. l1, 1949;

FLUID PERATED STRIP GUIDE Lorenz Iversen, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor toMesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation oi' PennsylvaniaApplication May 22, 1946, Serial N0. 671,562

This invention relates to strip guides to be used, for example, inguiding hot metal strip to a coller.

Paul Patent No. 2,111,054, dated Merch 15,

7 Claims. (Cl. 271-25) General arrangement and function See particularlyFigure 1. Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates a coller I ofconventional type, such as that illustrated 1938, discloses strip guidesfor use with a coiler, in- Figure 1 of the paul Patent No. 2,111,054 Athese guides being Simultaneously adlustable t0- metei strip s to becoiied treveis to the coiier in ward or away from one another so asto'accomthe direction of the. arrow. Strip guides 2 and 3 modatedifferent Widths 0f str1? and heme also are provided one on each side ofthe strip path. Simultaneously mevnble toward and away from In Figure 1these guides are shown positioned one another in any adjusted POSI'GIOHS0 as t0 10 equidistent from the center iine CL of the strip provide anopen setting and a closed setting. My path and the coller. invention isan improvement Over the Paul Provision is made for "setting" the stripguides Patent 2 and 3; i. e., adjusting their spacing to accom- A commondifficulty experienced with het c011- modete strips of diner-ent widths.The setting of ers isl the tendency of the strip to te1escop e in l5 theguides ls manually controlled, the toil; that iS t0 Say the ends 0f thee011 m' Provision is further made for actuating the stead of being planeare concave and convex. guides; i. e., moving their toward and away from.'l'eles'eoped Coils are incmvenlent 01' difficult, to one another inany set adjustment. This is done handle in Subsequent PlOeeSSlngr' andbettel'mg so that the guides may be spaced apart as the of the stripedges with consequent loss frequently 2o leading end passes to thecoller, and then moved results. toward one another to provide a spacingonly I attribute the defect 0f teleSeODlng Pl'melpelly slightly greaterthan the strip width so as to guide to the presence of a Smell amount 0feemberf 1n it properly. The actuation ofy the guides is stripthe hotrolled strip. By eember I mean e Sheh' controlled and is automatic.

curvature of the strip in its own plane, so that if provision is alsomade for "glsel-,tll-lg th a long Strip were out nat centrer lineguides; i' e" positioning them asymmetricauy would not be Straight butWould be eul'ved- Cemwith respect to the center line CL. This adjustbermay result from e Slight Over'rolhng 0f the ment is manually controlledand will be made by Stllp 0n 0ne Side Even a. Very Sme/ll meunt 0f theoperator according to his visual observation camber is likely to resultm teleseeped 6911eof the coils being produced. The offsetting of MyinVennOn makes 1t POSSlble te ellmlnete the guides does not aiect theirspacing, nor does teleeeeped G0115' and apart from thls 1t proVldeS itaffect their actuation. It does laterally shift an improved en d highlySatisfeetory guide Sethe mid-point between the guides and hence the tuigand actuating mechanism mid-point of the strip as it is presented to theY In the accompanying drawings illustrating a cogen present preferredembodiment of the invention, Guide settingQ-The guides 2 and 3 arelfigure 1 iS e diagram illustrating the Side mounted on piston rods 4having pistons 5 workguides and the several controls therefor; lng influid cylinders 5 and 1 respectively Move- Figure 2 is a longitudinalVertlcel Sectlon ment of the guides toward one another is effectedthlOugh the entering guide meehenisln df the by compressed "airoperating back of the pistons 0011er; 5. The compressed air is suppliedthrough pipes Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line of 3 and 9branching from a supply pipe |0 extend- III-.III 0f Flgure 2; ing from amanually operated three-way control Flgure 4 is a' tralcsverse sectlonon the Ime of valve Il. When the valve is in the position IV-IV me 1 ,iu b k 45 shown in Figure 1, the valve Il providesa pres- Figure 1S a' pp an v ew' par yf ro en sure communication to the pipe I0 from apresaway, showing the mechanism of Figure 2, |21 di f 1 n I3 th h Figure6 is a top plan view of the main guide sure plpe ea ng rom a' upr. y nemug actuating mechanism; y a pressure reducing and a dJusting valve I4..The Figure 7 is a vertical section partly in elewfv 50 valve I4.functions to maintain a predetermined tion, on the line of VII-VIIofeFigure 6; Pressure 1n the p1pe I2. l

Figure 8 is a vertical section, partly in eleva. While air pressure isused to bias the guides 2 tion, on the line of VIII-VIH of Figure 6; andand 3 toward one another, a. liquid, such as oil, Figure 9 isa, verticalsection on the line 1X1X is used to limit the amount of movement of theof Figure 6. so guides toward one another and to effect moveescasa 3ment in the opposite direction. The inner ends of the cylinders 8-and 'Iare accordingly filled with oil and are connected by oil pipes I and I8respectively to a guide setting mechanism indicated generally by thereference character I1. l,

This mechanism comprises two cylinders I8 and I9 of diierent diametersand a stepped plunger therein. The pipe I5 is connected to the top ofthe cylinder I8 and the pipe I8 to the top of the cylinder I8. In Figurel the plunger 20 is shown in its uppermost position and the guides 2and. 3 at their maximum opening. Neglecting the effect of the othermechanism for the moment and assuming the inner ends of the cylinders 8and 1 and the pipes I5 and I8 full of oil, it will be seen that despitethe pressure of the air on the rear ends oi the pistons 5, the guidescannot move inwardly, the oil being incompressible. I! now the steppedplunger 28 is lowered somewhat, an annular space ,will be provided inthe upper end of the cylinder I8 by reason of the fact that the portion29a of the plunger 20 will now-be spaced from -the top of the cylinderand the portion 28h which is of smaller diameter will be extending intothe cylinder I8. 'This per,-

mits a corresponding quantity of oil to now through the pipe I5. Airunder pressure in the pipe 8 will then causethe guide 2 to move inwardlya distance corresponding to the volume of oil which flows out of thecylinder 6 to ll the annulus at the top of the cylinder I8.

A corresponding movement of the guide 3 is effected simultaneously byflow of oil through the pipe I8 into the top of the cylinder I 9, theuppermost portion 20c of the stepped plunger 20 being. g;

of such diameter relative to the portions 20a and 28h as to insure thatthe oil-receiving annulus at the top of the cylinder I9 is ofthe samevolume as that at the top of the cylinder I8.

It follows that the guides 2 and 3 may be set to any desired spacing by'adjusting the vertical position of the plunger 20 and that verticaladjustment of the plunger 20 will cause equal adjustment of the guides.

The adjustment of the plunger 20 is controlled by the inilow or outflowof oil below the portion 20a of the plunger 28. The source of oil is asupply tank 2|. A pipe 22, having a manually operated control valve 23therein, connects the bottom of the tank 2| with the bottom of thecylinder I8. A cross connection 24, having a 4 the guides to theirmaximum setting. Oil will also ilow through the check valves '2l and 88it the lines they feed are not wholly illled.

check valve 25 therein, is provided to bypass the I valve 23. This checkvalve permits ow of oil to the cylinder I 8 but prevents back-How.

The tank 2l is connected at its top by a branch pipe 26 to the reducingvalve I4 so that the same pressure is maintained on top of the oil inthe tank 2l as ls maintained in the air pipe I2. The tank 2I is furtherprovided with a sight glass 21 so that the amount of oil can readily beobserved. Oil may be added or withdrawn through' a valved connection atthe bottom of the tank, as shown.

A branch pipe 28 leads from the oil pipe 22 through check valves 29 and30 and thence through pipes 3| and 32 respectively, cnnecting with thepipes I5 and I8 respectively. The check valves are used f or illling thesystem. They permit the ilw of'oil into the pipes I5 and I 6 but preventback-flow.

'Ihe valve II has a relief port 33 whereby Ithe air pipes 8, 9, and IIImay be vented to the atmosphere by turning the valve. If the pipes bethus vented, oil willilow into the bottom of the cylinder I8 through thecheck valve 25 and will raise the plunger 20 to its uppermost positionand separate It, now, the valve II is returned to its normal illustratedposition, a biasing pressure will be provided behind the pistons 5, butit will not be effective because the inner ends of the cylinder 5 and 1and the pipes I5 and I8 will be completely iilled with oil. Ii the valve23 is now opened, the plunger 28 will commence to move downwardly. Thismovement will be due to two causes: First, while the air pressure in thepipes 8 and 9 will be the same as the oil pressure in the pipe 22, theeiective area of the pistons 5 upon which the air acts is materiallygreater than the effective area upon which the oil acts (due to thediameter of the piston rods); second. the plunger 20 is very heavy. Bymanipulating the valve 23, the operator can thus elect the desiredinitial setting of the guides.

An indicator 34 is secured to the top of the plunger 20 and coacts witha gauge 35 to indicate the guide setting.

' Guide actuating.-The pipes I5 and I8 are connected to branch pipes 36and 31 respectively,

centric 4I is carried on a shaft 42 carrying a y worm wheel 43 meshingwith a worm 44 on the shaft of a motor 45. The motor 45 is supplied withcurrent from` power lines 46 leading to a control indicateddiagrammatically at 41. A pair of wires 48 extend from the control 41 toa flag switch 49 in the path of the oncoming strip S.

The mechanism in the control 41, whose electrical-details form `no partof the present invention, serves to actuate the motor 45 so as to rotatethe eccentric 4I a half turn, thereby causing lowering of the plungers48 when the strip trips the flag 49. It further serves to actuate themotor so as tov restore the plungers 48 to their initial raised positionafter the strip has passed over the ag 49. The eiect of the rst movementis to provide additional volume in the oil systems for each of theguides so that under 'the Apressure of air supplied throughthe pipes 8and 9, oil is forced from the cylinders 6 and 1 into th'e cylinders 38and 39 respectively, thus causing the guides to move together from theirset position.

=' The second movement of the eccentric 4I causes the plungers 48 toforce oil from the cylinders 38 and 39 back to the cylinders 5 and 1respectively, thus opening the guides after the strip has passed andleaving -them spread apart to permit the free entry of the leading endof the next strip.

By reason of the fact, heretofore noted, that the effective area of theouter end of the pistons 5 is greater than the effective area of theirinner ends, the .unit pressure in the pipes I5 and I8 will remaingreater than the unit pressure in the pipe 28 and consequently no oilwill enter through sired.

`able distance from the guides 2 and 3 to insure that theleading end ofthe strip S will have entered the guides before they move inwardly.Alternatively, a time control mechanism can be employed in the control41. 1

Osetting control.-An asymmetc setting of the guides 2 and 3 with respectto the center line CL is effected by substantially simultaneouslyincreasing the volume of the closed oil system for one of the guides anddecreasing the volume of the closed oil system for the other guide. Tothis'end, the pipes I5 and I6 are provided with additional branches 50and 5I leading to the tops of cylinders 52 and 53 respectively. These'cylinders contain plungers 54 and 55 respectively, which are actuated byeccentrics 56 and 51 respectively. The throws of the two eccentrica are'180 apart. They are both mounted on a shaft 58 carrying a worm wheel 59meshing with a worm 69 on the shaft of a motor 6I. The motor isconnected to a. control box 62 having push buttons 63 and 64 so that itmay be rotated in either directionv to a desired extent. Actuation ofthe motor 6I displaces oil from one or the other of the cylinders 52 and53, depending upon the direction of rotation, and permits lowering ofthe plunger in the other cylinder with consequent permitted increase ofvolume. Assuming that the plunger 54 has been moved upwardly, the resultwill be to force oil through the pipe I5 .into the cylinder 6, thusmoving the guide 2 to the right, as viewed in Figure 1.y (It will belunderstood that the maximum opening of the guides 2 and 3 is greaterthan that necessary for any strip width to be handled and consequentlythat the offsetting control will not be employed except when the pistons5 are at some initially adjusted position intermediate the ends of thecylinders 6 and 1.) As the plunger 54 is moved upwardly, the plunger 55moves downwardly by reason of the flow of oil through the pipe I6 fromthe cylinder 1, thus causing the guide 3 to move to the rightsimultaneously withthe guide 2 and in a similar amount. The initialsetting of the guides 2 and 3 will thus be shifted to the right withrespect to the center line CL. Actuation of the motor 6I in the oppositedirection will cause oiisetting of the guides to the left. 'I'hemidpoint of the guides may thus be shifted as de- Guidev structurevmechanism for a down-coiler; i. e., a coller which 'the eccentric 4I.

mechanism of Figure 2. the gate 66 is raised to its dotted line position68.', thereby deflecting the oncoming strip into the throat 1I of thecoller.

A serrated roller 1.2 intermeshes with notches in the gate 66 and thetable member 13 to prevent any possible escape of the leading end oi'the strip from the throat 1 I After the strip passes the guides 2 and 3,it travels4 between thev pinch rolls I4r of the coller.

In Figure 3, I have shown the guides 2 and 3 initially offset to theright, as will appear from the relative positions of the pistons 5 andthe Guide actuating mechanism See particularly Figures l, 6, '7 and 9.

The cylinders 38 and 39 are bored in a cylinder block 15 which ismounted on a base plate 16 that supports the guide settingmechanism I1(cylinders I8, I9 and associated mechanism) and the motors 45 and 6I.'Ihe tops of the cylinders are closed oil by a cover plate 11 secured tothe cylinder block by cap screws 1 Ia.

The cylinder block 15 is horizontally bored, as vindicated at 18, toaccommodate the eccentric 4I. The ends of the bore 18 are closed oi bycover plates 19 and 80. A bearing block 8| having a push t in the bore18 is located intermediate the two ends and forms the inner bearing 82for The outer bearing is formed in the cover plate 19. The worm wheel 43is keyed to the shaft 42 of the eccentric 4I and meshes with the worm 44of the motor 45. The shaft 42 has a portion 83 projecting outside thecover plate 19 and carrying an eccentric 84 which coacts with an arm 85pivoted at 86 and actuates limit switches 81, forming a part of thecontrol mechanism indicated diagrammatically at 41 in Figure l forcontrolling the motor 45.

The motor 45 is additionally 'provided with a brake 89 working on a drum89 so as to prevent motor drift and insure accurate control.

In Figure 7 the rams 49 are shown in an intermediate position. The motor45 will be so controlled and actuatedas to cause a 180 rotation of theeccentric 4I, iirst in one direction and then in the other, so as toraise or lower the two rams permits of supplying oil as required, andVsealing lies below the plane of travel of the oncoming strip. Coilersof this sort are frequently arranged in tandem, as shown in Paul PatentNo. 2,111,054, and used alternately. In Figure 2 the rim-out table 65 isshown with a gate 66 rockable on a. shaft 61 which carries actuatingarms 68 extending over the plungers 69 (see Figure 5) of the lled oilwithin the apparatus.

Since the downward movement' of the rams 40 necessarily displaces someoil from the bore 19,

4provision must be made for accommodating the oil displaced. For thispurpose, two expansion chambers 92 are formed in the cylinder block 15at its mid-section. These bores intersect the bore 18 at their bottoms,as best shown in Figure 9, and the bearing block 8l is made cruciform insection so as to permit free travel of oil to and from either side ofAthe block V8I and to and from See particularly Figures 1 and 6-9inclusive.

The offsetting cylii .1ers t! and ll are formed in the right hand hal!of the cylinder block 'IB as it is viewed in'Figure '1. The shaft Il forthe eccentrics 58 and B1 is provided with an inner bearing 93 in thebearing block Il and an outer bearing 9| in the cover plate Il. Theconnecti'onl of the motor BI with the 'eccentrics through the worm wheelu and theworm 60 is best illustrated in Figures 'l and 8.

The motor 6| is provided with a brake Il operating on a drum 96 so as toprevent drift of the motor 8| after the current has been cut oir.

The 'shaft It projects outside the cover plate l 80 and carriesa cam ilwhich actuates an indicating lever 90. The lever $8 terminates in anindicating pointer 99 which traversesan indicating dial suitablygraduated to show the amount of offsetting for any adjusted position ofthe rams 54 and Il.

Each of the cylinders Il. 39. 52 and ll and the expansion chambers 92 isprovided with a vent plug lili for bleeding air from the system asrequired.

Operation While it is believed that the operation of the apparatus willbe`c1ear from the foregoing description, it will be recapitulatedbrieily.

The valve 23 will be opened and oil bled from the cylinder il until thepointer ll and gauge l indicate a guide setting of the proper width forthe strip to be coiled. Successive strips will then be fed to thecoller, each coil being ejected in known manner after it has beenformed. Each strip as it passes to the coller will actuate thel iiag 49.At this time the guides 2 and I lwill be spaced a distance 'greater thanthe strip width. When the flag 49 is tripped, the rams 4l will belowered in their cylinders by the operation of the motor 45, thusbringing theguides closer together and spacing them at a. distancecorresponding to the strip width (it will be understood, of course, thatthe setting contemplates a Y small clearance). 'I'he closing of vtheguides will not be completed until after the leading end of the striphas entered the guiding zone.

If the operator observes that the coil is telescoping, he will actuatethe push button control 82 and offset the guides laterally in onedirection or another so as to eliminate it. This may be done during coilformation or between coils as he may desire.

After the trailing end of the strip has passed the flag 49, the motor 45automatically operates in the reverse direction and raises the rams 40to their topmost position, thereby opening the guides to permit theentering of the next strip.

Save for adjusting the guides to the proper strip widths, and manuallyadjusting the oil'- setting control to meet conditions as they arise,the operation is automatic.

My invention has many advantages. It provides an accurate and closecontrol which functions under the most severe mill conditions. Thetelescoping of coils with consequent likelihood of damage to the stripedges and defect in subsequent processing may be overcome. The actuatingand controlling mechanism is of suchv character that it may beconventiently located for ready access and most satisfactory operation.By reason oi the fact that the control mechanism is connected to thestrip guides only by oiland air-lines, its position relative to theguides may be altered as desired, thus giving the mill designer a downcoller for hot strip.

8 more latitude. The mechanism is adaptable to a wide variety or us.

I'have illustrated and described a present preferrediembodiment ci theinvention as applied to It will be understood however, that this is byway oi' illustration only and that the invention may be otherwiseembodiii within the scope of the following claims.

I cl

l1. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair ci' oppositelydisposed side guides, means for biasing the guidesl toward one another,a variable-volume liquid-pressure means for each guide for moving it inopposition to its biasing means, means for substantially simultaneouslyincreasing and decreasing the volume of liquid in the' twoliquid-pressure means, thereby to eil'ect a guide setting, and means fordiil'erentially adjusting the volume of liquid in the twoliquid-pressure means, thereby to eiiect lateral ofisettingof theguides.

2. Mechanism tor-guiding a metal strip ccmprising a pair of oppositelydisposed side guides, variable-volume liquid-pressure means for movingthe guides. variable-volume liquid-receivers connected thereto, meansfor simultaneously adjusting the en'ectivevolume of the receivers so asto eiiect a setting of the guides, means for supplementally varying theeilective volume so as to effect movement ot the guides, and means forsubstantially simultaneously adding. liquid to one or said systems andwithdrawing liquid from,

the other'thereby to eilect lateral oilsetting of the guides.

3. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair oi oppositelvdisposed side guides.

. a pair of variable-volume liquid-pressure means,

one for each guide, for moving the same. varlablevolume liquid-receiversconnected thereto, means for simultaneously adjusting the eiectivevolume of the receivers so as to efi'ect a setting oi' the guides, meansfor supplementally varying the liquid volumes so as to eirect movementof the guides, and means for substantially simultaneliquid volumethereof, and means controlled by the strip for actuating thevolume-changing means.

5. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair of oppositelydisposed side guides, means for substantially constantly urging theguides toward one another, a variable-volume liquid-pressure means foreach guide effective upon a change in the volume oi liquid therein tocoact with the guide urging means and effect a movement oi the' guidecorresponding in amount to the change in liquid volume, a guide settingdevice consisting of means for substantially simultaneously changing thevolume of liquid in each of the liquid pressure means, a guide-openingand -closing device consisting of a supplemental volume-changer for eacho! the liquidpressure means adapted to increase or decrease the Iliquidvolumes by an increment corresponding to a desired guide-opening or-closing movement, and means controlled by the strip for actu.- t

coact with the guide urging means and effect a movement of the guidecorresponding in amount to the change in liquid volume, va guide settingdevice consisting of vmeans for substantially simultaneously changingthe volume of liquid in each of the liquid pressure means, aguide-opening and -closing device consisting of a supplementalvolume-changer for each of the liquid pressure means adapted tn increaseor decrease the liquid volumes by an increment corresponding to adesired guide-opening or -closing movement, and means controlled by thestrip for substantially simultaneously actuating the supplemental volumechangers.-

7. Mechanism for guiding a metal strip comprising a pair of oppositelydisposed side guides,

means substantially constantly urging the guides toward one another, aguide-operating cylinderand-piston means for each guide for limiting the`action of the mst-mentioned means and effecting movement of the guidesin opposition thereto, a rst pair of cylinders. one operativelyconnected to one of the guide-operating cylinders and the otheroperatively connected to the other guide-operating cylinder, means forsubstantially Ysimultaneously adjusting the eiective volume of each ofthe said rst pair of cylinders thereby to effect a setting of theguides, a second pair of cylinders, open operatively connected to one ofthe guide-operating cylinders and the other operatively connected to theother guideoperating cylinder, and means for substantiallysimultaneously adjusting the effective volume of each of the said secondpair of cylinders thereby.

to eect guide opening or closing.

LORENZ IVERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in theCertificate of Correction Pmnt No. 2,484,347 october 11, 1949 LORENZIVERSEN f It is hereby certified that errors appear in the'printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column 6, line 26, for 71a read 77a; column 10, line 10, for the wordopen read one; and that the said Letters Patent should be Aread withthese corrections therein that the same lmay conform to the record ofthe case in the Patent Office.

Signed and this 24thday of January, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oonwmconer of Patents.

